BYRON — The mission of Kids Around the World hasn’t changed since it started building playgrounds in 1994 with help from thousands of volunteers, including Leland Erickson, 82, of Rockford.

There is one big difference these days, though. For the past three years, the Rockford-based, nonprofit group has been erecting mostly refurbished playgrounds overseas, rather than building new ones, said Tim Clauson, playground director.

“Now it’s 90 percent refurbished,” he said. To build a new playground in another country typically costs about $50,000, he said, compared with $5,000 for erecting a refurbished one.

Today, volunteers, including Erickson, disassembled metal playground equipment that was installed at Stone Quarry Recreation Park in Byron when it opened in 2003. The Byron Forest Preserve District park was closed in September because it was costing too much — $40,000 to $50,000 a year — to maintain and staff it, said Executive Director Todd Tucker.

The equipment includes swings, slides and a splash pad and may make its way to Africa next summer, Clauson said.

For now, that playground will be stored with 40 other sets in Rockford. There, volunteers clean, replace screws and weld parts to spiff up the equipment. The playground sets also come from places in Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis and elsewhere. Park districts are among the groups that donate to Kids Around the World when they update with newer playgrounds.

Kids Around the World has erected 270 playgrounds in 40 countries, Clauson said.

Erickson, a retired machine company owner, has traveled to 20 countries, including Peru, Cuba and China, since 1997 with Kids Around the World.

On a trip to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, “we saw a lot of kids with one leg or arm or their head smashed in,” he said. His granddaughter, Leslie Erickson of Rockford, was one of the family members who accompanied him.

“It was a humbling experience,” she said. “I take everything for granted. They